NO BUSINESS LIKE DOUGH BUSINESS
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ANNIE ROWLAND’S ‘SWEDE’ LIFE
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Serving Tavistock and area since 1895 VOLUME 124 • NUMBER 36
TAVISTOCK, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2020
ONLINE EDITION
CO VID
-19 WEEK 13
MAIN STREET A Quick Look at Our Town
Dave Bowman, Kitchener Firefighter PHOTO / CONTRIBUTED
THIS ‘N’ THAT It was beautiful, sunny and warm last weekend with hot weather and thunderstorms on Wednesday - some relief from the heat is forecast with a cool down called for again this weekend … who hasn’t heard the (fighter) jets flying over our area lately … Canada’s COVID-19 numbers are finally slowing with Phase 2 of our opening set to for this Friday, June 12th while the “Golden Horseshoe” is being held back at Phase 1 for the time being - Canada’s numbers are 96,244 with Ontario’s number at 30,860 - keep up with physical distancing, hand washing and wearing a face mask when distancing is difficult - by wearing a mask you are protecting those around you just as by them wearing a mask it protects you and your loved ones! … thank you to all the frontline healthcare workers who continue to fight against this virus!
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES Garner Zehr is 4 years old June 10th; a 42nd wedding anniversary for Phil and Joyce Roth … on June 11th Mateo Roman Reyes is one year old; Jack and Benjamin Bisch turn 8; a birthday for Fran Eekhof; anniversaries for Keith and Eileen Erb, 55th; Brad and Laura Witzel, 9th … Kierra Mason is 2 June 12th; Kaelynn Schlegel, 11; Carson Gilmore, 11; birthdays for Sophia Bailey; Nicholas Danen; a 27th wedding anniversary for Tim and Jayne Whetstone … on June 13th Ava Brooks is 7; Shelby Zehr, 13; a birthday for Jaris Marriott … Rianna Forthuber is 15 June 14th; Payge Schlosser, 18; Julia Harmer, 18 … on June 15th Nathaniel Berg is 5; Rylee Weldrick, 5 … Jackson MacMillan is 10 June 16th; Wesley Berendsen, 10; anniversaries for Dean and Phoebe Steckley, 8th; Wes and Janice Leis, 47th. Belated first birthday greetings to Evelyn Yantzi, May 20th.
CLANG YOUR POTS! in support of our frontline workers Every night at 7:30 p.m.
AN HONOUR TO SERVE Tavistock resident and Kitchener firefighter Dave Bowman knows full well the dedication shown by those on the local volunteer fire departments. Having previously served as a volunteer for 8 years on the Wilmot Fire Department in New Dundee, Dave said he’s “blessed to live in a community like this. I can appreciate the effort these firefighters put into it,” he commented. Born in Mannheim and raised in New Dundee after age 10, Dave always looked up to the volunteer firefighters and at some point realized that it could actually become a career for him. Dave’s father, Paul Bowman, was on the volunteer fire department for a couple of years as a young man while living in New Dundee. Growing up, Dave was always impressed by the likes of their family friend and current New Dundee – Dave Station Chief Brad Otterbein. Right out of high school, Dave decided to join the volunteer fire service. He said he wanted to help people, give back to the community and work as a team member. In 2009 he began his one year probation with the volunteers while attending Conestoga College in the Pre-Service Firefighting Program. He had his Z Air Brake endorsement license and was able to take in-house training and familiarization with a volunteer firefighter, then complete the D portion of the test. Dave drove a 25-ft. straight truck when he worked for the warehouse at Canadian Tire part-time during high school. “Being used to the size of the vehicle made is easier to complete my D test,” he said.
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At the same time, in an effort to give back to the community, Dave volunteered weekly for four years at Grand River Hospital, welcoming families and directing patients to the proper departments. Ironically, he said, he later learned that the man he replaced in the volunteer position at the hospital had been hired by the Kitchener Fire Department. Dave continued to take extra courses to build up his resumé. He studied Small Engine Service and Repair at Conestoga College, Hazardous Materials Terrorism Awareness at the Ontario Fire College, earned an NFPA-based Basic Pump Operations Certificate, and completed a 120hour course as an Emergency Medical Responder through the Canadian Red Cross. He then became a Red Cross First Aid instructor which he taught at Conestoga College. He Bowman also completed a dispatch course at Fanshawe College in London. Dave was apprenticing at Cambridge Rigging as a truck and coach mechanic when he got the call to join the Kitchener Fire Service on September 6, 2011. He was one of seven firefighters hired on as replacements at that time. Working out of the Lancaster Street Station, Dave is on a 24-hour shift with five other firefighters. They have two trucks with four personnel on the pumper and two on the aerial truck. Lancaster is Kitchener’s most northern station, one of seven stations, and they are responsible for all of the downtown area. The aerial truck, which features a 30m (100 ft.) ladder, allows them to fight fires from outside up to 7 or 8 storeys. Most fires in high rise (continued on page 9)
COVID-19: It’s definitely changed the way we work.
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